But after a series of odd occurrences in past four UFC appearances, Palhares is approaching things in a different way. As his manager, Alex Davis, first told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), Palhares is training his mind in addition to his body and now has something to prove at Saturday’s UFC 142 event.

“Certain confusing situations occurred during some of my past fights,” Palhares told MMAjunkie.com in his native Portuguese. “In some cases I think it was my mistake, and in other cases I don’t think so. But the important thing is that I’m working so this won’t happen again in the future.

“I am being assisted by a sports psychologist from the Brazilian Olympic Committee team as instructed by my coach, Murilo Bustamante.”

Palhares’ recent missteps include a suspension for holding a submission past the referee’s instructions, a TKO loss to Nate Marquardt due in large part to a complete lapse in concentration and, most recently, a premature victory celebration at UFC 134 in which he scaled the octagon wall after a perceived first-round TKO win but was forced to return to the mat and grind out a decision.

That particular incident, which took place in the same venue as Saturday’s pay-per-view event – Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena – was in Palhares’ most recent UFC appearance, a victory over Dan Miller.

“I lost my concentration because I believed that the fight had already ended,” Palhares said. “It’s not easy to come back to a fight after you think it’s already over. It was a great test but I don’t wish to go through that again.”

Palhares now meets wrestling stylist Mike Massenzio (13-5 MMA, 2-3 UFC) in a UFC 143 main-card contest. “The Master of Disaster” has struggled to find consistency thus far in his octagon career, but Palhares said he’s still acutely aware of the stylistic challenges his opponent provides.

“The biggest difference is that he’s left-handed, and this obligated me to train with southpaws, which significantly changes the approach to standup,” Palhares said. “I am training all fundamentals, and I’m ready to face a complete fighter, so my objective is to find flaws during the fight and capitalize on them.”

Despite his track record of oddities, Palhares is still 5-1 in his past six outings. In a division in constant search of a new contender for longtime champion Anderson Silva, Palhares resides dangerously close to a shot at “The Spider,” and his powerful submission game could potentially provide a new stylistic challenge for the man generally regarded as the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter.

Baby steps, Palhares said.

“The most important thing in my life is my family,” Palhares said. “I am very proud of them. My inspiration is to be able to, through my fighting, bring about a better life for my family members. My objective is to remain healthy and uninjured to be able to fight as much as possible.

“I only think about my next opponent. It is impossible to take the second step before taking the first.”

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?